Dress-shield holder.



No. 696,689. Patented Apr. I, |902.

J. F. MURPHY.

DRESS SHIELD HOLDER.

(Application tiled Feb 14, 1901.!

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JOHN FRANCIS MURPHY, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE I3. M.SEAGER AND HERBERT R. CLARK, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.

DRESS-SHIELD HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No'. 696,689, dated April1, 1902.

Application tiled February 14, 1901. Serial No. 47,303. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom. t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN FRANCIS MURPHY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, haveinvented a new and useful Dress-Shield Holder, of which the following isa specification. I

This invention relates to dress-shield holders, the object in view beingto provide a simple holding device for securely fastening a dress-shieldwithin the arm-scye of a garment, so that there is no liability of thedress-shield to become disengaged while the garment is worn..After'removing the garment from the person the holder may be readilydisconnected from the garment, and is thus capable of being easilydisconnected from one garment and applied to another.

Another object of the .invention is to provide a dress-shield holderwhich is entirely covered and concealed and protected by the shield,thereby preventing any part of the holder from coming in contact withthe skin or undergarment. The holderis made of thin flexible material,such as light sheet metal, which will readily give to the movements ofthe arm and body, thus preventing any inconvenience to the wearer.

v Another object ofthe invention is to provide a dress-shield holdercomposed of iiexibly-'connected members provided adjacent to theirjoints with complemental portions of dress-engaging clasps, the membersof each clasp being so arranged that by folding the dress-shield holdersimultaneously with the dress-shield to which the members are attachedthe said clasp members will be opened to receive the seam or material ofthe dress adjacent to the arm-scye and when the shield and holder arestraightened out the said clasp members will automatically engage andobtain a firm hold on the material of the dress contiguous to thearm-scye.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in adress-shield holder embodying certain novel features and details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the drawings, and incorporated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is v a perspective view ofadress-shield,showing the holder therefor in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the holder, with the dress-shield indicated bydotted lines. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of one of the vjointsof the holder, showing the clasp memresponding parts in all the Iiguresof the drawings.

v Referring tothe drawings, l designates a dress-shield of any ordinaryor preferred construction, which is folded in the usual manner t-o formthe bight 2. The holder contemplated in this invention is arrangedbetween the side portions of the shield and, directly within the bightor fold 2, as clearly illustrated in the drawings. The holder is alsocoextensive in length with the width of the dress-shield, so as toextend throughout the length of the bight or fold and form a continuoussupport and spreader for the shield.

The holder is composed of several sections or members, and forconvenience I have illustrated the holder as comprising three members, 3designating the central or intermediate member, and 4: the outer orterminal members, which are connected flexibly by means of pivots 5 tothe opposite ends of the intermediate member 3. The contiguous ends ofthe members are enlarged for the purpose of receiving the pivots bywhich they are connected, and adjacent to their points of pivotalconnection the members are each provided with a terminal clasp member G.By reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the clasp member on one ofthe holder-sections is of less 'length than the other clasp membercooperating therewith and connected withthe joining member, and theextremities of the clasp members are bent inward toward each other, soas to lie one slightly above and over the other, the object of which isto enable the in-bent extremities of the members of the clasp to engageover and embrace the seam of a garment within` the arm-scye thereof,thereby effectually preventing the dressshield holder from becomingdetached as long as the arm is contained within the sleeve. It

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is onlywhen the dress-shield is folded or doubled and theholder-sections folded relatively to each other that the in-bentextremities of the clasp members are moved laterally out of engagementwith each other and with the seam in the arm-scye, and during suchfolding movement of the dress-shield and holder the clasp members movein parallel planes. The intermediate member 3 is provided at bothextremities with clasp members, While the outer or terminal sections ofthe holder are provided at their inner ends only with the clasp members,and the members of the clasp are so arranged relatively to each otherand lo the sections of the holder that they Will be in their bestoperative positions for gripping the garment When the sectionsline upwith the fold or bight of the dress-shield. Therefore when thedress-shield is in its normal position Within the arm-scye the claspmembers are firmly engagedwith the garment, and it is .only by removingthe arm from the sleeve that the holder and shield may be folded ordoubled sufficiently to disengage the clasp members from the garment andpermit the shield to be removed for application to another garment. Inorder to securely attach the holder to the inside of the dress-shield,the holder-sections are provided at suitable points with perforations 7for the purpose of receiving stitches, wherewith each of the sections ofthe holderis individually secured to the dress-shield.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the holder isentirely protected and concealed Within the bight of the shield and thatit is therefore impossible for any portion of the holderto come incontact With the body of the wearer or in contact with theundergarments. It will also be understood that there is no danger of theholder and shield becoming detached from the garment as long as thegarment is Worn, for the reason that the holder cannot flex or foldsufficiently to move the clasps out of engagement with the material ofthe garment. In vieviT of the fact that the device is fitted Within thebight of the shield and snugly against the arm-scye portion thereof itforms a spreader for maintaining this part of the shield in a spreadcondition, so as to prevent rucking up thereof when in use, and therebyobviating a very disagreeable feature Which is present in the commonform of dress-shield When not provided with a spreader of the presenttype. However, when the arm is withdrawn from the sleeve the shield,together with the Iiexibly-connected sections of the holder, may befolded in such manner as to move the complemental portions of the claspaway from each other, allowing the same to release their hold upon thematerial of the garment, and thereupon the shield and holder connectedthereto may be easily removed and with equal facility attached to anyother garment desired. By means of the device hereinabove described thenecessity of stitching the dressshields in place is obviated and theshields may be quickly interchanged and removed from one garment toanother. At the same time the holders, by reason of the fact that theyare constructed of light thin flexible material, Will occasion noinconvenience to the wearer.

It will here be noted that the shape of the spreaderis arcuate. Itterminates at or short of the opposite edges of the shield and isterminally connected thereto, the remaining portions of the shield beingentirely free therefrom and the arm-Scye-engaging fastenings are carriedintermediately of and by the spreader and projected at the convex sidethereof. lThis combination and arrangement of parts is important andadvantageous, as it anchors or fastens the intermediate portion of thespreader to the garment, and thereby prevents looseness and bulging upof the intermediate portion of the spreader to the annoyance of thewearer, as would be the case if it were terminally connected to thegarment.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art Without further description, and it Will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to Without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing'any of the advantages of the invention.

What I claim isn l. A dress-shield spreader and holder, comprising aflexible arcuate spreader-body corresponding in curvature to theconcaved edge of a dress-shield and adapted to be arranged wholl yWithin the bight or fold thereof, an intermediate portion of thespreader-body being provided with means projected at its concaved sidefor engagement with the arm-scye of a dress-Waist to anchor theintermediate portion of the spreader-body and prevent upward bulgingthereof, and means for fastening the spreader-body to a shield.

2. A dress-shield having an arcuate spreader fitted snugly within andagainst the back portion of the bight thereof and connected to said backportion only, the remaining portion of the shield being entirely freefrom the spreader, the latter comprising a plurality of members disposedin longitudinal succession With their adjacent ends overlapped andpivotally connected, and mutually-coperating garment-engaging clampmembers carried by the adjacent members of the spreader.

3. Adress-shield having an arcuate spreader fitted snugly within andagainst the back portion of the bight thereof and connected to said backportion only, the remaining portions of the shield being entirely freefrom the spreader, and the latter comprising flexiblyjointed membersdisposed in longitudinal succession, and mutually-cooperating garment-IOO IIO

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engaging clamp members carried by the'adjacent spreader members.

4. A dress-shield, having a spreader fitted snugly within and againstthe back portion of the bight thereof and connected-to said back portiononly, the remaining portions of the shield being free from the spreader,the latter comprising a series of members made of flat materialpivotally connected at their meeting ends, and provided at theirterminals with cooperatingarin-scye-engaging clampmembers. 5. Adress-shield having a spreader' dtted snugly Within and against the backportion of the bight thereof, and conn eeted to said back portion only,the remaining portions of the shield being free from the spreader, thelatter comprising a series of flexible pivotally-connected membersdisposed in acurved series, and an arm-scye-engaging clamp member car4ried'by each member of the spreader.

G. A dress-shield, having a spreader car- 1 spreader member and theinner ends of the respectiveY terminal members. v

7. A spreader and holder for dress-shields, consisting of an arcuatebody formed by a plurality of arcuate members disposed inlongi Atudinalsuccession, theadjacentends of opposite members being pivotallyconnected, each member having means for connection with'th'e bight of adress-shield, and mutiiallycooperating arm-scye-engaging members carriedby adjacent members ofthe arcuate spreader.

S. A spreader and holder for dress-shields, having pivotally-connectedarcuate members disposed in longitudinal succession, one of which isprovided with a laterally-oiset clamp member Whichiis extended from theeoncavedside of the spreader member and projected beyondthe conveXedsidethereof, and the other spreader-member having a clamp member which isprojected transverselyf rom the convexed edge of the spreader andconstructed to lie across `and cooperate `With the other clamp memberforengagement i with an-arm-scye when the spreader members are broughtinto longitudinal alinement.

In testimony that Iclaim the `foregoing as.

my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

JOHN FRANCIS. MURPHY. Witnesses:

E. J. GORMAN, W. S. WESTERMAN.

